The contribution of fish to global diets has reached a record of about 17 kg per person on average, supplying more than three billion people with at least 15 per cent of their average animal protein intake. This increase is due mainly to the ever-growing production of aquaculture which is set to overtake capture fisheries as a source of food fish, according to the FAO’s State of the World's Fisheries and Aquaculture. The report also stressed that the status of global fish stocks has not improved.
Overall, fisheries and aquaculture support the livelihoods of an estimated 540 million people, or 8 per cent of the world population. People have never eaten as much fish and more people than ever are employed in or depend on the sector.
Fish products continue to be the most-traded of food commodities, worth a record $102 billion in 2008, up 9 per cent from 2007.
The overall percentage of overexploited, depleted or recovering fish stocks in the world’s oceans has not dropped and is estimated to be slightly higher than in 2006. About 32 per cent of world fish stocks are estimated to be overexploited, depleted or recovering and need to be urgently rebuilt, the report says.
Read the complete story from Fish News EU.